Guardians Of The Galaxy is just around the corner, and writer-director James Gunn still can’t believe that he’s got away with it.

“I really feel like there’s some sort sof weird, mad sorcery at play,” he laughs. “Because I don’t know how I was able to do everything that I was able to do and that Marvel actually liked it and that I’m actually sitting here today and people liked the movie.”

Guardians is something entirely different for Marvel: an irreverent, action-packed space opera that is as hilarious as it is ambitious. When Gunn, the man behind Super and Slither, was first approached, he tells us that he was a little more cautious than usual.

“I was a bit more timid,” he admits. “I think the first draft was a little bit more conservative than the second draft was, and it was because Joss said, ‘I think I want more James Gunn,’ and then I just took it where I wanted it to go. But I do think the foundation, I mean, listen, it wasn’t like I was… I’m not a timid person by nature so it wasn’t like I was lurking in the corner, it didn’t read like a Steven Seagal movie, it was me! But it was I think once I had that green light to move ahead I went ahead.”

“I just let myself go more in the direction of all the things that I thought they were going to freak out on. I thought that there were going to be things that they were going to cpmplain about, instead the things I thought they were going to complain about ended up being the things they liked the most about the screenplay. So for that I feel very fortunate.”

The patented James Gunn tone was something that star Chris Pratt, who plays rogue with heart of gold Peter Quill (aka Star Lord) was very much aware of, and he tells us that diving in head-first was vital.

“I think one of the things that’s so crucial to allowing a director like James to nail tone is that you just have to trust him,” explains Pratt. “You’re giving him enough rope to hang himself. I’m giving him the tools to kill me. But I’m trusting that he’s going to carve me into a beautiful sculpture. If he had a vendetta this movie would come out and tank my career but you just trust that you both want to do the same thing which is make a great movie and I think that’s important.”

“We’re going to do something a little different. So come with me, we’re going to listen to some music, we’re going to do a little dancin’, and you’re going to be alright, you can go on this journey with me.”